I arrived in Valparaiso early on the 30th and started looking for a hostel where I knew one of my friends from Santiago was staying, I also knew there was space to stay there if need be, which was practically impossible to find in the centre at during these festivities. I was hoping I would be able to meet up with my friend that I met in San Pedro although that never worked out and I ended up staying in a hostel the entire stay which was disappointing.
Valparaiso was a busstling city at this time. Lots of people in the street, lots of street venders, people selling fruits and vegetables on the side of the road and around the markets. Large plazas and tall buildings fill the center although as soon as you leave this area and gradually climb up the different hill, away from the ocean, these tall buildings dissapear and become small houses of varrying colours and designs. Walking through the streets one is often surrounded by walls covered in murals, street art or plain grafiti ranging in quality from absolute scribble to detailed, skilled grafiti. It is a very exciting city. Shaped like an Amphiteatre around part of the bay the cities 300,000 inhabitants or so occupy over 20 different hills, all with different names, like neighbourhoods. Valparaiso has one of the major ports of the country of Chile as well as a sizeable naval ports. The enormous bay is constantly filled with cargo ships waiting to unload or upload and military ships. Two other cities share this bay with Valparaiso, these being Viña del Mar and Concón. Concón being fairly smaller, Viña on the other hand is right next to Valpo and is of a similar size. The two cities have basically merged from expansion, although travelling from to the other is a different world of society. Viña is a beach town, its waters not being as extremely affected by the ships. In Viña there is more space, nicer cars, large, expensive resort buildings right on the ocean, next to the beach. This is how I would imagine some beach cities in California. Incomparable with Valpo, a bohemian city of art and expression, less clean, and more poverty, one of the poorest cities in Chile matter of factly. Through this lack of work it has forced the people to create their own work through creativity. The majority of the populace are into art, music, theatre or all of the above. It is a very neat atmsphere, especially now, during preparation for the New Year. Valpo is said to have one of the best New Years fireworks and festivities worldwide! Little did I know the 4 days before the big event, the city was filled with spectacular events of music, dance and acrobats occupying the plazas on a planned schedule, all day! Of these shows I experienced little, simply because of my late arrival to the place. The city pretty much just parties for a week straight several days before and after new years. All Night. But the best party, when all the people come, is on new years eve, some dont even rents a room, but just stay up until their bus the next morning. The night would not even be that expensive if you did this. There are so many people that you can not even get into bars or clubs where you would blow all of your money. Every once in a while there will be a bottle shop open, just selling alcohol, here is where the crowds flock to and buy bottles of liquor for only a few dollars.
The night started calmly. I met with some other friends from Santiago and we went out for dinner then quickly climbed the mountain to reserve a good spot to see the fireworks from above, if you leave it too late all the streets are full. We waited, holding our ground for several hours, making friends all the while. As it got dark and we kept drinking I lost track of time... The countdown was skattered and started by the crowd at first without confidence then built up. The finale was celebrated with an immense amount of champagne shaken into the sky and dropping down on us like rain, my hair was soaked after about 30 seconds of this. The fireworks began and the wet, drunk, people began to cheer. All around the bay fireworks of similar colour and fashion could be seen. Kilometers away on the other side at Concón they were small bulbs of light. There must have been almost a dozen spots around the bay that shot the firworks. It was fantastic, the noise, the colour, everybody so happy, every once in a while a late champagne bottle would be opened and pour down on us again, at this point we thought nothing of it. After about 30 minutes of this, the fireworks ended, everyone satisfied and the people filed out to begin the nights events. Now after midnight we regrouped at the hostel and went down the the main plaza where there was a stage set up with a live band. The amount of people was insane! Everywhere you went the streets were full. The large plaza was packed including all the streets around it. Everyone dancing, drinking and loving one another. Throughout the entire night not once did I see any outcry, fights, police brutality, everyone I made eye contact smiled, would shake my hand or give me a hug and say "Feliz Nueva Año!" It was a very happy moment, where hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world, of all ages, were having fun, extreme fun in a public environment without creating disturbance. Once the live music ended, people filed out of the plaza to the next place to occupy. Waling through the streets, people buying food, relieving themselves in alcoves or just in the middle of the street, drunkards passed out on the ground contentedly.
The rest of the night was long, although relatively uneventful, just hanging out with friends, talking, walking around, yet it was lots of fun and always something different. Always people playing music, rejoicing.
After a few hours of sleep I was awoken to sounds of raining glass bottles breaking on the ground, the sun was just barely up, the noise endless. Sirens in the distance became louder as the got closer. Crowds of people partying all night were being to create disturbance and not want to leave the plaza that they were occupying. Armoured jeeps and vehicles surrounded the area, riot police took over control. Blocking thrown missiles with their sheilds they slowly broke up the offenders, some forced to leave, others forced in the back of a truck and taken away. Eventually tier gas was thrown all over the area, one of the windows to our room smashed, tier gas began to enter the room, awakening the rest of my companions. Burning sinuses and throat forced us out of the room. These feelings lingered for the next several days when walking around certain areas of the city. Experiencing rebellion to that extent before my eyes was something new. It added a final touch to the entire New Years Experience here in Valpo.
I spent the next few days afterwards just relaxing with new friends. Eventually we went back to Santiago together for another few days again just relaxing by the pool side, sorting out what to do next. I decided I would head to Mendoza, Argentina. There, near the city sat the highest mountain in the Americas. Aconcagua, its name, 6900 and something meters, its height. Did I want to climb it, of course I did, or something similar.
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